2025 LMDA Conference Call For Proposals

Call for 2025 Conference Proposals

Digital and In-Person

Digital Conference: February 1-2, 2025 | Applications due by: December 20, 2024
In-Person Conference: June 26-28, 2025 | Applications due by: January 31, 2025

For 2025, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas will convene around the theme of Dramaturgy and Creative Infrastructure. We are once again hosting two conferences, one digital and one in person. Our digital conference in February will explore the same theme in an online setting. Then, in June, in honor of our fortieth anniversary, we are hosting our first bi-national conference at the border of Mexico and the United States. Both the digital and in-person gatherings promise to be enlightening, entertaining, and engaging!

Our host cities, San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico, provide the perfect site for this conference. Situated adjacent to the busiest land border in the Western Hemisphere, with over 150,000 pedestrians and passenger vehicles crossing daily, the San Diego and Tijuana population, combined, totals 7.1 million inhabitants. Jointly designated as the World Design Capital of 2024, the cities were recognized for cross-border collaboration. While there are barriers, both physical and governmental, the region is interconnected by a shared cultural and environmental ecosystem. The diversity of the area encompasses the Kumeyaay people and Chicanas/os whose lineage in the area goes back six generations (or more) to communities who trace their origins to places all over the globe. Some of the diverse communities in the area include: the Filipino community numbering more than 200,000, one of the largest populations of Iraqis outside of Iraq, the Sudanese community, and military service members from several branches. This region understands how to build consensus and work across divides of various kinds.

Thinking through the support systems that enable creative output allows us to uplift dramaturgy as crucial to building arts institutions, audience engagement, and the civic impact of performance in communities. This is especially vital in a world still assessing and responding to the changes caused by the pandemic and other social upheaval. The 2025 LMDA conference will cultivate a space for the intersection of cultures, identities, abilities, and generations. What we do today will shape the trajectory of dramatic arts. We are asking theatre artists of all backgrounds, experience levels, and disciplines to be part of the ongoing conversation around (re)building creative infrastructure.

We are looking for explorations of any and all ideas from groups and individuals that stem from the theme of Dramaturgy and Creative Infrastructure. (Note, some recurring events, like Debut Panel and Hot Topics, will have a separate call or be compiled by the conference committee.) Here are some starting points to consider:

  • Conversations about how to build or rebuild infrastructures related to:
    • economic standing
    • the training of artists
    • the distribution of our work
  • How do we build our audiences? These discussions might include exploring pathways in developing:
    • new play infrastructure
    • rebuilding the post-pandemic infrastructure of theaters and university departments
  • Topics related to dramaturgical and literary management practice, as well as the work of producers, directors, choreographers, writers, filmmakers, librarians, and other creative partners
  • We especially encourage proposals that engage with current issues facing the local San Diego and Tijuana communities

Proposals should consist of:

  1. a brief abstract (no more than 200 words),
  2. category (choose from the list, below),
  3. main contact and list of all involved participants if applicable
  4. any technological, language, and accessibility needs

Proposal Categories

  • Panel discussion (3-4 people) - 60-90 min
  • Interactive Workshop - 60-90 min
  • Individual Paper/Presentation - up to 20 min (potentially grouped into a larger session)
  • Performance - up to 30 min
  • Other (please describe your idea)

You are invited to apply for either conference–digital or in person–or both. Applications for the digital conference are due by Friday, December 20, 2024, and the in-person conference are due by Friday, January 31, 2025. (If you are applying for either, please submit by Dec 20.) Members of the LMDA Conference Planning Committee will review and respond to all applications.

Apply here

For questions about the digital conference, please reach out to: conference@lmda.org and for the in-person conference: conferencecoordinator@lmda.org.

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